"The web has never been more important"
Here is the interview with Anders Olsson, CEO of Telia Sweden.
Tech is a new basic industry that contributes to the development of a large number of areas in society. How does Telia contribute?
The development of technology has had an incredible impact on the entire development of society, people and businesses. We at Telia have a long history stretching back more than 168 years where we have been an important part of that development through innovations that have meant radical changes for the whole of society - such as mobile telephony, 4G and the expansion of the fiber network as some examples. In May 2020, we also launched Sweden's first large public 5G network and the rollout is now continuing across the country. In the first phase, the rollout will mainly affect city centers, where many people are on the move at the same time, but in the long term we will also roll out 5G outside the cities. Our goal is for the 5G network to reach more than 90% of the population by 2023. The network has never been more important. It is a prerequisite for a well-functioning digital economy with more innovation, more sustainability and more security. It is also what connects us, from north to south.
What is the biggest change we will see in your field in the next 5-10 years?
We are moving towards a future of increased digitalization and automation. The 5G network is designed to connect things and make them communicate and act quickly and automatically. With 5G, we will see smarter and mobile robots that can move around the factory floor. In the green industries, there is talk of precision agriculture. There are connected robots that sense what are desired crops and what are weeds, and quickly remove all weeds. This reduces the use of herbicides and contributes to a sustainable society. Another area that will change with 5G is healthcare. Here there is increased opportunity for mobile healthcare, for example in rural areas. Telia, together with Region Västerbotten, has conducted a test with mobile mammography, where a car with mammography equipment was connected via 5G and drove around the region to be able to offer examination in a simpler way. The network is innovation, and 5G in particular will change most sectors of society over the next 10 years.
What does Sweden need to do to attract more global tech companies?
One prerequisite is of course what we talked about above, continued access to a robust and secure infrastructure and communication solutions to be able to develop the next generation of digital services that can then be scaled and exported to the rest of the world. Predictable regulatory frameworks are an important precondition for continued investment in the networks. We are finally on the road to 5G, but many leading digital nations are already looking at 6G. Let's not get left behind again. Part of the answer to this very interesting and important question is beyond our control as a company and an industry. A more forward-looking public sector that dares to invest in the use of new technologies can stimulate the development of new ideas and businesses. Our large industrial clusters in manufacturing and mining, for example, are prime examples of this. But in general, global competitiveness is often about structural and long-term investment in innovation, education and creating opportunities for driven people and freedom to dare to invest early in ideas that can be globally sustainable. It is important that we produce many new start-ups with the ambition to grow, while at the same time our large global companies must be able to adapt in a world driven by exponential technological development. Access to education is fundamental to developing businesses on a broad front and here society has a huge responsibility to ensure that our colleges and universities are active and well adapted to future needs.